Snow (San Diego, Laguna, Alpine: home, pine, cars)

[hanna_house]

With the recent storms, does anyone know the nearest place a person in SD County could drive to see some snow?

[esmith143]

Should be still plenty of snow along Sunrise Highway, possibly closer along the 8. In fact, DOT web site says that much of the highway 79 between I-8 and Julian is closed due to snow, but that info could be outdated.

Be sure to bring chains. You may be stopped by the police and asked to show that you have them in your vehicle.

[sav858]

Julian got 8" so I'm sure its still there. But yeah I would check out Sunrise Highway and Mt Laguna too. I could see plenty of snow lining the ridges of the mountains here, Palomar Mountain still had snow on it. I'd try to go this weekend b/c its probably going to melt soon.

[hanna_house]

Wow, thanks! Thinking about going tomorrow. Seemed like it might be fun to see a bit of snow before Christmas and then go back home where it's warmer!

[sdurbanite]

If you are heading to Julian this weekend, be prepared for plenty of traffic along the way. Last season, we tried to go to Palomar and it was bumper to bumper all the way up the mountain. We ended up just pulling over and letting my niece and nephew throw some snowballs.

That said, depending on how low the snow level gets, you only have to go to Alpine (about 25 minutes from downtown) to see snow. I don't think they got snow this time, but as others have already said, just go north of the sunrise highway or drive further east to Descanso or Pine Valley to hit the snow.

The beauty of San Diego is that it's possible to drive to the elements (from scorching desert heat to mountain snow) at your leisure, on less than half a tank of gas.

[dweej]

Okay, so we went to Julian today (Saturday). Arrived at about 10 am and it wasn't too bad in terms of traffic and crowds, but when we left at 2 pm, there were cars lined up for miles on the 79 into town. It was insane! Who waits until the afternoon to go up there?!?!? Lots of snow, but not worth it at that time of day imho. You've absolutely got to go first thing in the morning, especially if you have kids. Good luck!

[esmith143]

Sunrise Highway is very pretty at sunrise ( ) and there's hardly a soul around at that hour. But you'd have to get up at 5 and bring warm clothes. Weather forecast for tomorrow morning is 30 F at 7 AM in Mount Laguna.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Sunrise was closed by 1 due the huge amount of cars. We ended up on the backroad and had a great time. We have the only snowman on the block

Go early or be hosed.

[hanna_house]

We left around 2pm and found that Sunrise Highway was closed so we took the route heading toward Julian and stopped off on the side of the road, just before they would require chains. It was hilly and a lot of cars were parked with people sledding and building snowmen. The traffic was no issue at all and we only stayed until dusk, which is my favorite time of day during Christmas. We had a very lovely time and I'm glad we made the effort to go check it out! Thanks again for the tips everyone!!

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by hanna_house

We left around 2pm and found that Sunrise Highway was closed so we took the route heading toward Julian and stopped off on the side of the road, just before they would require chains. It was hilly and a lot of cars were parked with people sledding and building snowmen. The traffic was no issue at all and we only stayed until dusk, which is my favorite time of day during Christmas. We had a very lovely time and I'm glad we made the effort to go check it out! Thanks again for the tips everyone!!

I did the same thing yesterday and just posted some pics in the photo thread. Check it out!